Well yesterday when I got home, my youngest daughter (2 years) wanted to go for a drive in daddy’s car. So I thought that we would drive to the mailbox which is 162 yards away (I measured it last night with my Nike pedometer). So I place her in my front passenger side, and away we go at the extremely fast speed of 5-6 mph. So we get to the mailbox, I get it and then hand it to her to hold (all this is on my cul-de-sac without passing any other roads). Then as I turn aroubd to head home I notice a policewoman hanging out with a neighbor, all of a sudden she runs to her car and chases me (if 5 mph is a chase) and pulls me over and tells me that I have an unrestrained child in my car, and then proceeds to give me a ticket. So I start laughing and she tells me that if I don’t stop she will make me walk home (which is 7 houses) but she will show me some leniency and let me drive home. So she follows me the whole 100 yards with flashing lights to make sure I get home safe… So now I have a court date for late August or pay the $56 fine that I will receive in the mail within the week, so do I take it to court and just pay it?
No wonder people don’t like police.
thanks for reading my little vent here.
Pay the fine, unless you want to endure the hassles of going to court and arguing your case on the principle of the matter. Likely, the judge won’t be sympathetic. I’m surprised she gave you the ticket. Must be trying to make her quota for the month.
yeah, I’d pay it, because you’ll likely not convince anyone that you didn’t break the law… That said, I still think the cop could have used better judgment and issued you a warning considering you were so close to your home. Sounds like she was grandstanding to me.
Ahhhh, I wish police officers would stop with these tickets. I admire them but sometimes it gets silly. I guess you have to decide if it is worth your time really. For $56 it may be easy to just mail a check. If on the other hand, you are like me and this makes you angry in principal, then I would go to court and tell the DA what happened and see what they say, especially if the worst is still that you have to pay $56. Hopefully, the DA is will apply some reason and throw it out.
I like the part about the escort home with rollers and the part where she is going to make you walk home. Not sure if you live in Mayberry or not, but I wager there are better uses for her time than chatting with the neighbors and shaking you and your 2 year old down.
Beaurocracy knows no reason. I was recently in an extremely minor fender-bender in the parking lot of my son’s preschool. I accidentally backed into another car while going 1-2mph- in fact my foot was still covering the brake pedal. I never even touched the gas. Some scratched paint was the extent of the damage. Well, I made the mistake of admitting to the insurance company that my son was in the car at the time and was instructed to immediately throw away my new $260 car seat and replace it. I tried several times to put the accident into perspective for her, but she was adamant that the seat should be immediately destroyed. Never mind the fact that the seat sees more shock when I drive over a speed bump. Needless to say, the seat is still in the car.
I hear your situation and I think that sucks. The cop should have at most given you a warning.
What I really want to say has nothing against you. Does anyone else have a problem with the fine for putting a child in such a dangerous position only being $56? I think the fine should be something that would make you think seriously about doing it again.
If you have a friend that is a lawyer that is familiar with the specific court in which your case will be heard, you can find out whether it is worth doing anything other than just paying the ticket. You may want to check if you are going to get any points on your license because that would also increase your insurance for a few years so it may make it worth doing something about. Most of the local assistant township attorneys and judges around here (SE Michigan) will let you work something out to avoid having your insurance go up. But, it is extremely unlikely that you will get away without paying anything because tickets are a lucrative revenue source for most municipalities and states.
First, call the Clerk of the Court and ask what the court costs would be to fight the ticket. Assume you have about an 80-20 chance of losing if the cop shows up to testify. If the court costs are very high, my advice is to just pay the ticket. You may be able to enter a “no contest” plea and pay the ticket for a small additional fee. At least then you will have some satisfaction that you did not admit guilt. Also, in some states you can agree to attend a traffic school, and the ticket/points will not show up on your record. If you have that option, take it as it may save you on your insurance later. the traffic school is a joke, and I think you can even do it online now.
I’m amazed you were able to stop laughing. What a completely useless bitch of a cop (note for the easily offended: in this particular instance, the term “bitch” refers to attitude as opposed to gender - I would have called a male cop the same)
Of course, I’d likely have taken a 2nd ticket for some other drummed-up reason if I had been there…
thanks for the responses, I needed the vent. Funny thing is I posted this on another tri webpage and pretty much got abused by the replies for endangering my child. But it is good as I got alot of feedback.
This is most likely some “Zero tolerance” program. These often mean zero common sense. On the other hand, I’ve seen dead unrestrained kids laying in the road. The officer may have as well. That can kind of change one’s perspective.
I agree the cop could have handled the situation better. Sounds like she was trying to embarrass you to make a point. That said, I believe most accidents occur within two miles of a person’s home. Taking a devil’s advocate position, what if one of your neighbors accidently backed out of their driveway quickly and slammed into your car? Or, another person could have pulled into your Culdesac and hit you. In either case I’ll bet you’d wish you had your precious two year old in the car seat. I’ve heard many people say they don’t see any reason for seat belts if they’re just driving to the store two miles away. My rule with my kids has always been seatbelts (or child seats when they were younger) whether we’re leaving for a trip or driving three blocks to the neighbor’s. The other downside to allowing a toddler to ride up front, if even for a VERY short way, is then later they may want to do it again.
I’m amazed you were able to stop laughing. What a completely useless bitch of a cop (note for the easily offended: in this particular instance, the term “bitch” refers to attitude as opposed to gender - I would have called a male cop the same)
—I’m not easily offended for gender reasons, but come on! Calling a cop a bitch when she is doing her job. Maybe the officer used poor judgment in exercising her discretion, but you don’t know that. Maybe she didn’t use poor judgment. Very likely, she thought the original poster does this quite often. Even if it isn’t true. Maybe she thought that he had just driven 5 or 500 miles like that. Who knows if a ticket was the right thing to do. But “drummed-up” reason? Yea, I’m quite sure you’de have said all that to her face, right.
Do you have air bags in your car? If not this was just stupid on your part but if you do, you are one sick MF.
I have a friend who designs restraint systems for one of the big 3. We drink together occasionally and he loves to talk about his work. I know more than you can imagine about air bags. This guy designs the things and he won’t let his 13 year ride in the front seat.
That stuff about air bags killing kids is no joke. One wrong move by you or someone else and your daughter’s little head would have been detachted from her body and launched out the back window and you’d be doing about 10 years in prison instead of paying a $56.00 fine.
IMHO what you did was about a million times stupider than riding your bike for the next 12 months without a helmet. At lest that would only put your head at risk.
On the ticket front - go to court and if the cop doesn’t show you’ll walk but hey get paid OT for court apperaances so they almost always show. It’s virtually impossible to win a traffic ticket if the cop shows up although she might cut you a deal and let you plead to something with no points but since you laughed at her you’re probably out of luck.
My God, I don’t know how we’ve all survived this long.
kmowlam, next time you get your kid out of bed, triple wrap him in bubble wrap, stick a helmet on him, them strap him down to a gurney so he won’t get hurt. People are dying out there every day- don’t let it happen to someone you love.
Exactly - we’re so worried about being safe that we let them put explosives in our cars! I hear you and actually agree with you but I do know a lot about air bags and unless you are big (i.e. over about 100 lbs) and properly strapped in and sitting up straight the things really can kill you. Just because the same safety nuts who put them in the cars are now telling us they have to be respected doesn’t mean it is not true.
I really would ride without a helmet before I would let one of my young kids ride in the front seat.
I agree that this was probably not that big a deal. But, if you did break the law (I am assuming you did) then why complain? Speeding is still speeding whether it is 5 over or 50 over. It is the same with this. You are the one who did not use your discretion.
The time to complain about cops is when they violate your rights by coercing confessions out of people, lying on the witness stand or punching you in the gut in the station, and that happens often enough. The rest of this nonsense is just crying wolf.
